1 – Alex Noren won his first European Tour title in this event back in 2009.
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Having separated themselves from the pack, the title became a duel between Noren and Hend, who nudged back in front with his first birdie of the day at the par-5 5 hole. Hend began a stretch of three birdies in four holes from the 12th to cut the Swede’s lead to one shot.
“I think Alex played the 18th hole way better than I did and made an awesome birdie for a deserving win”.
But it wasn’t to be.
A three-putt by Noren at the 17th gave Hend a chance, which the Australian nearly wasted on the 18th by pulling his tee shot left into the trees.
But Hend was soon picking up his marker as Noren judged the pace and line of his birdie putt to perfection to wrap up another impressive victory, just four tournament after he won the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart.
The duo returned to the 18th tee for the first hole of sudden death and Hend hooked his tee shot again but he stayed clear of the trees. Hend saved par to force the playoff as rain started to fall for the first time all week.
The Englishman, who has just one top-20 finish since April’s Augusta triumph, is among a group of nine players one stroke behind the leading quartet of Paul Peterson of the US, French pair Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Gregory Havret, and England’s Daniel Brooks. “I have no pressure and maybe that’s why I can play good”.
“Yeah, I feel that way”.
“But he (Alex) played fantastic golf today (and) I didn’t play quite well enough”. My driver hasn’t been my good side but now it is steadier.
‘I was a bit anxious about hitting the tree in front of me and then hitting it in the water so thought ‘You know what, if you make a five so be it, just don’t really mess it up and put a big number on the card’.
With Noren lying 30 feet from the hole, Hend hit a good chip to give himself a chance at par but the effort was in vain as Noren rolled in his long range birdie.
Olympic representative Marcus Fraser played three solid rounds in Switzerland but faltered on Sunday with a 3-over 73.
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It was a superb start from Noren, who recorded five birdies on the front nine including a streak of four in a row between the sixth and ninth holes.
